Broken Blossoms
by Laudine
Summary: A terrible transgression drives Logan and Isabel to leave the X-Men and begin their lives anew as members of the Avengers.  But when the X-Men need them once more, will they be able to forgive and answer the call?  LoganxOC, established relationship.
1. Prelude

**Disclaimer: I don't own "X-Men," but Isabel Sayre/Sylphide and all original characters are mine. This is rather AU and a different story from **_**Sings the Nightbird.**_

**Broken Blossoms**

**Prelude**

_Isabel._

_Saint-Malo, France._

_May, 2010._

So. Where to start.

God, I never thought I would confide in someone like _you_ about this. But then…Well, never mind that.

You know, Logan likes the beach here. He's always liked the rockier beaches-not the sandy ones you see on the Côte d'Azur or in the Bahamas or Florida. He likes to drive Veronica down to the beach when the tide comes in, and you should see him point it out to her. She screams with laughter and then starts blabbering to him.

He does miss Canada. He's gone back there a few times by himself, but after a week or so he's always back. He has set down roots here-even if it might not be where he really wants to be-but he knows that here he and his family will be safe.

But after what happened…Can you really blame him? We had to leave. There was no choice, and it was something we both agreed that we had to do. There was no going back. There was no feasible way we could have stayed. And I hated leaving the Professor, and know it wasn't the Professor's fault. He'd been gone-how could he have known?

I'm not really angry with anyone anymore. There's a huge difference between holding a grudge because of all the times someone screwed up and because of the one or two things that someone felt they _had_ to do for the greater good and there was no way around it. I've always understood that Cyclops had to make tough decisions, that he had a lot weighing on his shoulders and that the decisions he made were almost always for the good of the team. But it never meant that I had to like it.

And it never meant that Logan had to like it, either.

Does Logan still hold a grudge? I don't know. You might want to ask him yourself.

Because he will certainly want to know why you're here.


	2. Chapter 1

****Disclaimer: I don't own "X-Men," but Isabel Sayre/Sylphide and all original characters are mine. This is rather AU and different story from ******_**Sings the Nightbird.**_**

****Broken Blossoms****

****Chapter One****

__October, 2007.__

Sylphide squeezed her eyes shut, wincing at the sound of metal bones crashing against brick and mortar as Wolverine's body connected with the wall.

"That must've hurt," Spiderman remarked, and Sylphide opened one eye, then the other. Wolverine was crouched on the ground, clutching at his head as the lacerations began to knit themselves together already. "I told him not to go in," Spiderman went on. "But does he listen? No."

Sylphide spoke into her comm link. "I think you have an unexpected in, Cyclops."

"We're taking it," was Cyclops's reply.

Sylphide turned to Spiderman, who stared at her expectantly with his mask-covered eyes. "They're going in."

"You gonna swoop in and pick up Old Gruff and Growly there, or do you want me to do it?" Spiderman asked her.

She bit her lip, and she shook her head. "No, I have it. Go in with Cyclops. We'll have your back."

"Somehow," Spiderman snorted, "I think I should have called in the Four and not you guys."

"Well, you called us. There's no going back now."

"No shit." He held out his hand, palm up, and shot a stream of web toward the building next door. "See you on the flip side."

"Yeah," Sylphide mumbled, dissipating into a cloud of mist and threading her way through the fray and materializing at Wolverine's side. He rose, the effects of the concussion now gone, and he grinned down at her.

"You always got my back, darlin'?" he asked her.

"Always." She stood up, too. And then the back of her neck began to prickle.

A guttural shout rent the air, and then their quarry appeared from behind the corner of another building. "Little Man had friends hurt Hulk. Now Hulk hurt Little Man."

Sylphide wondered what Cyclops had ordered the other X-Men to do, but the thought was fleeting as Wolverine grabbed her hand and pulled her into a run.

"We're pushing him into the park," Cyclops explained over the comm link. "Keep running. We're closing in from all sides. Professor Xavier is on his way."

"God damn you, Cyclops," Wolverine muttered under his breath.

"I'm ignoring that. Cyclops out."

Sylphide glanced back at the approaching form of the Hulk in apprehension, and then her gaze returned to Wolverine.

"He has a weapon now."

"What?"

"A birdbath."

"A bir-what the hell is he doin' with a birdbath?"

"Why not ask him, little man?" Sylphide lunged down as the Hulk lobbed the birdbath at them. She gathered whatever air she could around her and Wolverine, making it denser to deflect the blow of the birdbath. The birdbath slammed against the shield of grayish mist that surrounded them, and it broke into pieces, shattering the windows of the cars that were parked in the street.

Sylphide watched as the green giant gritted his teethand – and he certainly didn't look very jolly.

"Maybe if I cut off his air," she offered, but Wolverine shook his head.

"Remember, Sylph, he ain't bad, just pissed. And he's dangerous when he's really pissed. An' Stark wants him alive and unharmed."

"Keep telling yourself that." She loosened the shield of air around them.

He glanced back at her with what she thought might be a glare, and then he grabbed her hand again. "Save yer breath and run. We're almost to the park."

She held fast to his hand as he maneuvered his way through the alleys and streets. It crossed her mind to dissipate into mist, meander her way through the air above, and meet him in the park, but she dismissed the thought just as quickly. It was better, she reasoned, to remain here and cover Wolverine should he need it. That way everything could go to plan. She hoped.

She hoped…as a child's tricycle landed just inches in front of them.

Bruce Banner had been in New York City to attend a scientific conference for the week, and it was supposed to be Tony Stark's job to talk him into joining The Avengers. But unfortunately, Tony had been called to Japan in the guise of Iron Man to help The Fantastic Four seal up a meltdown in a nuclear power plant. So of course the job now had fallen to Peter Parker, who knew who Banner was and had approached him at a coffee shop in the city. It should have gone smoothly.

But it didn't.

A mutant girl had been hurrying past as a group of thugs followed her, whistling and catcalling her. She had been about to duck into the coffee shop when one of the thugs grabbed her by the shoulder and shaken her, saying something insulting. Bruce and Peter had gotten up to intervene, and that was when the Hulk decided to join them.

And that was when Spiderman had called them in.

Getting the girl out of the situation was easy-thank Nightcrawler for that. But the situation with the Hulk…well…

That was what had gotten them to this point.

She could see the park ahead of them, and the _Blackbird_ circling above. In a few moments it landed, and the door opened. Professor Xavier emerged from the jet with Beast at his side, and from the look of it, he was starting to work on the Hulk's mind.

"Get outta here, Sylph," she heard Logan order gruffly.

"What?" she exclaimed incredulously. "Logan…"

"I said get outta here." They stopped running and he let go of her hand. He turned toward the Hulk. "I can handle his punches. You can't."

"Be careful," she mustered, and she heard him laugh.

He glanced back at her with that devilish grin that always broke out across his face when he was throwing himself headlong into danger. "I dunno if I can, but I'll do my best, darlin'."

She let herself dissipate into the air and made her way to where the rest of the X-Men on this mission had stationed themselves. The White Queen smiled at Sylphide.

"Nice of you to finally join us," Emma Frost said smoothly. Sylphide shot her an irritated glare. Trust Emma to inject some snark into the situation. Not that it was unusual in _any _situation.

"I'm glad you noticed," Sylphide replied nonchalantly. Emma smiled again.

_Well played_, the White Queen complimented telepathically.

Sylphide smiled, too, then took her place beside Storm to await the arrival of Wolverine and the Hulk. A roar ripped through the air as Wolverine ran toward them, the Hulk in close pursuit. And then the Hulk stopped. Professor Xavier approached the creature, no doubt reaching out to him telepathically, calling forth Bruce Banner to take control again. And slowly, the green creature began to shrink and change, until all that was left was a man. Until all that was left was Bruce Banner.

He seemed disoriented, and Sylphide went to Wolverine's side while Professor Xavier and Beast did the best they could to explain the situation to Dr. Banner. As Wolverine leaned over to try and catch his breath, Spiderman clapped him soundly on the back. "Good one, Wolvester!" Spiderman exclaimed. "You've taken one for the team, all right."

"Depends on which team," Wolverine shot back.

"You're not saying that it wasn't for the Avengers, are you?" Spiderman said, sounding surprised.

"Yeah, I __am__sayin' that," Wolverine replied, straightening. Spiderman turned to Sylphide.

"You, too?"

"I've never run any missions for the Avengers," Sylphide said. "Until now. With __my___ te_am." Here she nodded at Professor Xavier, and Spiderman's jaw seemed to clench.

"I see," he said. "Well, good luck with __your ___team_…and your boyfriend."

Sylphide's eyes narrowed as she detected the murky gray of his aura. "Thank you," she said evenly. And she turned away from him and rejoined the X-Men.

They debriefed soon after they got back to the mansion, and Sylphide glanced at Charles a few times and noted the changes in his aura. And Charles seemed to sense it and closed his aura off from her, much like Emma Frost did and Jean used to do when she didn't want anyone-not even Sylphide-to know what was on her mind.

"Such an attack __is__a cause for concern, not only for mutants who can't blend in with the rest of the human population, but for all of us," he said, contradicting something that Gambit had pointed out. He seemed concerned about something, almost agitated.

Sylphide remained quiet throughout the meeting, keeping her eyes on Charles to see if anything peeked through. Nothing.

__If I need to confide in you, I will let you know, ___C_harles told her telepathically, glancing over it her pointedly. __Trust me for now, Isabel___._

Sylphide pursed her lips and sat back in her seat, half listening to the discourse around her. Yes, it was difficult, she reasoned, but there were people who were behind them. Even if it was in secret, when things seemed at their darkest, they could always reach out for help. Always.

At this point, though, she was physically and mentally exhausted. All she wanted was a hot shower and her pajamas and dinner and hours and hours of sleep. A little over an hour later she got her wish. Wolverine had gone out to the local diner to pick up some carry-out for the two of them; Isabel had offered to order a pizza and have it delivered, but he insisted on going out, and she didn't argue with him.

He came up to her room with the carryout, and she opened the door so they could eat on the little bistro table on her balcony. It was nice out for mid-October, even though it was getting dark, and soon it would be too cold to sit out here at all. She had always loved this balcony, how it caught the wind just right and how it gave the illusion of a tiny little respite from the harshness of reality. He was quiet, but she could tell by the colors in his aura that he was preoccupied, that there was something weighing on his mind. He stared down at the backyard below for some moments, and then he turned to Isabel.

"Stark made an offer," he told her abruptly, crumpling up the wrapper of his burger and stuffing it into the carryout bag.

"Tony Stark?" Isabel burst out, and Logan nodded and sat back in his chair. "What kind of offer did he make?"

He folded his arms across his chest and furrowed his brow. "He wants me to join the Avengers."

So. This was why he had been so quiet. "So what are you going to do?" she asked him, opening her bottled water and taking a sip out of it.

"I turned him down."

Isabel nearly spat the water out of her mouth. "You did?" She put down her water bottle. "Can I ask why?"

He reached into his jacket pocket for a cigar, and fumbled in the other pocket for a lighter. "For lotsa reasons."

"Do you want to tell me?"

He rose and went to one side of the balcony, turning his back to her. He lit the cigar and took a drag from it, then blew out the smoke. "The biggest one was you. You've got roots here, a good job here. Not that I didn't, but I was always ready to pick up and go at anytime. An' yeah, there's Jubes and Kitty, and the other kids, but mostly it was you."

Isabel nodded. "What did Tony say?" she persisted.

He faced her again, scuffing the toe of his shoe against the wood floor of the balcony. "He understood. He said if you came with the deal, then fine, but I still said no. Not that I won't still run missions with 'em if I'm needed, but the X-Men come first."

Isabel stood up, picking up the discarded napkins and wrappings of their meal. "So that's why Spiderman said what he did to you and me."

"Yeah." He watched her as she rose to go in. "You goin' to bed?"

She nodded, smiling at him. "Are you coming to bed?"

"Is that an invitation, darlin'?"

"I don't know. What do__you ___t_hink it is?" she teased, and he grinned.

"Be there in a minute," he said quickly, and she laughed and went to the bathroom to throw out the bag and brush her teeth.

Logan came inside a few minutes later, ducked into the bathroom to get ready for bed, and then he climbed into bed beside her. She moved closer to him as he settled in. He put his arm around her, and she felt his lips brush against her ear. "You mind if I take you up on your offer?" he asked her. 

She turned over to face him. "I thought you'd never ask," she said before his lips closed over hers.

There were times when he would wake up at night and get out of bed, and he would either go outside or go downstairs so that he wouldn't disturb her. She could see by the colors of his aura that he was troubled, but she wouldn't always go to him. She understood that there were some things that there were some things that she couldn't fix, that he would have to do it on his own when he was ready. But if she could see that he did need her, she would go to him. It provided reassurance, he'd told her once, to know that she was there.

When they'd first met she hadn't thought much of him, but then she'd been young still, just on the verge of graduating college. And right after, like an idiot, she got married, even though she'd known in the back of her mind that it would never work with her college boyfriend. But she wanted a normal life, to pretend and play that game of house that everyone else could. But she wasn't normal, and soon her game of pretend ended with a divorce and a return to the school to teach. When she met him again, after he had just returned from Japan following the death of his fiancee, she thought of him differently. And the truth was that they had both changed.

She'd never meant to fall in love with him and he'd never meant to fall in love with her. Somehow, it just happened. Somehow, in the midst of teaching and missions and drills and muddling through their lives, it had all come together, all too serendipitously. They had both been scared at first, but really, what did they have be scared of? So they'd taken the risk, and here they were two years later, though it hadn't exactly been easy. But then life had never been meant for things to be easy.

She could hear him on the balcony, talking on his cell phone. He ws purposely keeping his voice low, and she closed her eyes and half-listened to the conversation. Soon he ended the call and came back inside and then back to bed.

"Who was that?" she asked him, and he sighed and shook his head.

"Fury."

"Nick Fury?" Her ears pricked up at this. "What did he have to say?"

"He called to thank us for helpin'with the Hulk situation, said the offer to join up was still open. Fury thinks they got a hit on Sabertooth."

Sabertooth. Victor Creed, the self-appointed bogeyman of Logan's life. Isabel could just hate him for that alone, but there were also other reasons why. He had done horrible, unspeakable things to people she and Logan loved and cared about. But the worst part about him, aside from his aura, was his eyes. There was nothing in them that seemed remotely human...or humane, anyhow. There was an emptiness to them, and a cruel light in them, and it scared her to even think of it.

"I got till tomorrow to figure out whether or not I want in."

"_Do _you want in?"

He was silent for a moment, stroking her hair. "I dunno. Part of me does, part of me doesn't. But if I'm there, we might be able to end him—for good, this time."

It was a comforting thought to Isabel, because then Logan wouldn't have to live his life looking over his shoulder now and then. And though she shouldn't think that, she believed that Creed deserved death. He'd deserved it a thousand times over.

"Whatever you do, I'll support you," she told him.

"I knew you would." He grew quiet now. "Anyway," he said, "I gotta sleep on it."

He must have made his decision in the course of a few hours. Before he left early the next morning, he woke her up to kiss her good-bye.


End file.
